Hillhead Haven 1984: photo Adrian Pink

As a result of making a few enquiries of likely contacts in the Fareham area, Ben Benstead very kindly rang up.  He was the original builder of Lottie (or Stella Maris as she then was)  and was able to solve a few mysteries.  Ben (now 85) owned her from 1970 until 1982. She was based mostly at Hillhead Haven on the East side of Southampton Water near Titchfield and the River Hamble.

It looks nice. Apparently Hillhead is limited to craft of 25 feet or less.   Adrian Pink (Beardy Vulture) , SailsteveUK and Amanda Rudkin have very kindly agreed to the use their Flickr pics on this site [click to enlarge].

Hillhead Haven (photo Stevesailuk)

Hillhead Haven (photo Amanda Rudkin)

I’ll soon be putting up a gallery of Lottie’s previous Home Waters.

Meanwhile, there is now more practical stuff about epoxying the hull, fixing the leaks in the hull/deck joint and fitting the new toerail and taffrail.